Saying 53: Is Circumcision Useful?
If circumcision were useful, fathers would produce sons already circumcised; the true circumcision, in spirit, is what profits.
Commentary
The argument from nature is Thomas’s own; the conclusion is Paul’s. A useful datum for anyone weighing how Jewish, or how post-Jewish, the Thomas community was.
Parallels
Romans 2:29; Philippians 3:3
Sayings on the same themes
- Saying 13 Saying 13: Compare Me to Something Peter says Jesus is like a righteous messenger, Matthew like a wise philosopher; Thomas says his mouth cannot say what Jesus is…
- Saying 104 Saying 104: When the Bridegroom Leaves Invited to pray and fast, Jesus asks what sin he has committed or how he has been defeated; rather, when the bridegroom…
- Saying 91 Saying 91: You Cannot Read This Moment They ask him to say who he is so they can believe; he replies that they examine the face of the sky…
- Saying 39 Saying 39: The Keys of Knowledge The Pharisees and scholars have taken the keys of knowledge and hidden them; they did not go in themselves and did not…
- Saying 6 Saying 6: On Fasting, Prayer and Almsgiving The disciples ask how to fast, pray, give alms and eat; the answer is to stop lying and to stop doing what…
- Saying 12 Saying 12: James the Just Asked who will lead them after he goes, Jesus sends the disciples to James the Just, for whose sake heaven and earth…